Sympathetic stimulation produces a greater increase in both transmural and spatial dispersion of repolarization in LQT1 than LQT2 forms of congenital long QT syndrome

OBJECTIVES The study compared the influence of sympathetic stimulation on transmural and spatial dispersion of repolarization between LQT1 and LQT2 forms of congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS). BACKGROUND Cardiac events are more associated with sympathetic stimulation in LQT1 than in LQT2 or LQT3 syndrome. Experimental studies have suggested that the interval between T peak and Tend (Tp-e) in the electrocardiogram (ECG) reflects transmural dispersion of repolarization across the ventricular wall. METHODS We recorded 87-lead body-surface ECGs before and after epinephrine infusion (0.1 mug/kg/min) in 13 LQT1, 6 LQT2, and 7 control patients. The Q-Tend (QT-e), Q-T peak (QT-p), and Tp-e were measured automatically from 87-lead ECGs, corrected by Bazett's method (QTc-e, QTc-p, Tcp-e), and averaged among all 87-leads and among 24-leads, which reflect the potential from the left ventricular free wall. As an index of spatial dispersion of repolarization, the dispersion of QTc-e (QTc-eD) and QTc-F (QTc-pD) were obtained among 87-leads and among 24-leads, and were defined as the interval between the maximum and the minimum of the QTc-e and the QTc-p, respectively. RESULTS Epinephrine significantly increased the mean QTc-e but not the mean QTc-p, resulting in a significant increase in the mean Tcp-e in both LQT1 and LQT2, but not in control patients. The epinephrine-induced increases in the mean QTc-e and Tcp-e were larger in LQT1 than in LQT2, and were more pronounced when the averaged data were obtained from 24-leads than from 87-leads. Epinephrine increased the maximum QTc-e but not the minimum QTc-e, producing a significant increase in the QTc-eD in both LQT1 and LQT2 patients, but not in control patients. The increase in the QTc-eD was larger in LQT1 than in LQT2 patients. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that sympathetic stimulation produces a greater increase in both transmural and spatial dispersion of repolarization in LQT1 than in LQT2 syndrome, and this may explain why LQT1 patients are more sensitive to sympathetic stimulation. CT Am Coil Cardiol 2001;37:911-9) (C) 2001 by the American College of Cardiology.